Post by kathleenmae on Jul 14, 2016 22:16:56 GMT
Kathleen Donato
Phil 5
Professor Lane
July 14, 2016
Reference:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is The Universe An App? Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Web. 12 July 2016.
Not only is the human brain made up of about 75% of water and 60% of fat, but it is made up of memories, intelligence, and decisions. Basically, this organ controls our lives. The brain determines whether we will remember who our family is to not remembering what our outfit was the day before. Since our brain is so complex, it has it’s own way of tricking ourselves. According to the book, Is the Universe An App?, the “brain tricks us into believing its own machinations as something that is not sui generis. All this trickery does serve one underlying purpose: keeping our organism intact long enough to recapitulate itself” (Lane 102). This means that the brain, in a way, tricks us by making us believe in a certain scenario turned into reality when it is only an illusion. For example, in the book, it gives an example of a conscious lioness suddenly hearing wind shifts, then thinking and assuming is a tiger. The conscious animal then starts to run because “the animal that’s conscious has integrated the image of a tiger. The ability to consider alternative images in an explicit way is definitely evolutionarily advantageous” (Lane 86). In relation to humans, this trick of the brain being able to imagine made-up scenarios in our head turned into reality like the lioness example, benefits our genetic survival because it basically helps us to survive. Without predicting or being able to come up with illusions, we wouldn’t be able to adapt to the environment. In short, this trickery helps us to survive because we start to think of the worse situations and try to come up with a way to fix it, even if it were just an illusion. Our brain is able to help us adapt and come up with ways to get around the worst scenarios in order to survive. In case these worst scenario illusions do become real, we are able to use it when we need it.
Reference:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is The Universe An App? Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Web. 12 July 2016.
Phil 5
Professor Lane
July 14, 2016
1. Explain the virtual simulation theory of consciousness.
According to the book, Is The Universe an App?, it states that the “brain is a virtual simulator because of dreaming where everything is hallucinated by us, even without us knowing how and why we are doing it” (Lane 106). The brain is also a simulator because what “we see, hear, touch, and smell results of how our central nervous system processes both external and internal stimuli and then reconstructs a virtual environment in which we react accordingly” (Lane 106). In relation to the question, the virtual simulation theory of consciousness explains that all the situations that humans mentally produce in their head is a neural reaction that acts as a virtual stimulation in the help of our five senses. Interestingly, the virtual simulation theory of consciousness not only presents that humans are able to process both external and internal stimuli into a virtual environment, but according to Is The Universe an App?, certain aspects of the virtual simulator hypothesis have been tested with impressive results. For example, like the book stated, “thinking about a certain activity, such as juggling skills, before doing it could significantly improve one’s ability later on” (Lane 143). Like the book stated, “consciousness is a fantastic virtual simulator and because of its inclusivity and insular engineering it has an inherent tendency to believe its own machinations” (Lane 75). Our minds and body as a whole is a complex yet captivating concept. In a way, our consciousness works like a machine where it is “created by a neural network that has billions of on/off nodes tied in with trillions of synaptic clefts” (Lane 106) that creates “worlds upon worlds within our own skulls” (Lane 106).Reference:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is The Universe An App? Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Web. 12 July 2016.
2. How does the brain trick us and for what benefit is it for our genetic survival?
Not only is the human brain made up of about 75% of water and 60% of fat, but it is made up of memories, intelligence, and decisions. Basically, this organ controls our lives. The brain determines whether we will remember who our family is to not remembering what our outfit was the day before. Since our brain is so complex, it has it’s own way of tricking ourselves. According to the book, Is the Universe An App?, the “brain tricks us into believing its own machinations as something that is not sui generis. All this trickery does serve one underlying purpose: keeping our organism intact long enough to recapitulate itself” (Lane 102). This means that the brain, in a way, tricks us by making us believe in a certain scenario turned into reality when it is only an illusion. For example, in the book, it gives an example of a conscious lioness suddenly hearing wind shifts, then thinking and assuming is a tiger. The conscious animal then starts to run because “the animal that’s conscious has integrated the image of a tiger. The ability to consider alternative images in an explicit way is definitely evolutionarily advantageous” (Lane 86). In relation to humans, this trick of the brain being able to imagine made-up scenarios in our head turned into reality like the lioness example, benefits our genetic survival because it basically helps us to survive. Without predicting or being able to come up with illusions, we wouldn’t be able to adapt to the environment. In short, this trickery helps us to survive because we start to think of the worse situations and try to come up with a way to fix it, even if it were just an illusion. Our brain is able to help us adapt and come up with ways to get around the worst scenarios in order to survive. In case these worst scenario illusions do become real, we are able to use it when we need it.
Reference:
Diem-Lane, Andrea, and David Christopher Lane. Is The Universe An App? Walnut: MSAC Philosophy Group, 2014. Web. 12 July 2016.